Hades and Phersephone
by RebecaNicole
Summary: A story of Hades and Persephone. The Greek God/dess of the Underworld.
1. Chapter 1

What do you do when you have a life- no, not a life a _curse_- where you are surrounded by nothing but death? The pleasure of looking forward to death ripped from your control? To be immortal…

There is no elixir, no weapon and absolutely no thread of life that will be cut for me if anything tried to take my life. Trust me I have tried.

What good is it to be eternally bound to this Zeus-forsaken body I've been given when it feels like I'm constantly living the regret of a simple mistake by choosing the wrong stick in a game of "shortest stick looses?"

To be the Lord of the Underworld…

Guardian of lost souls.

Forever bound to the darkness.

A God.

Hades… The Damned.

Years, decades, centuries, millenniums, eons and eons of being forgotten in this Hell of a place –literally- while my brothers and sisters drink, party and enjoy the warmth of spring time and the changing of seasons… the golden rays of Helios' mighty sun. The feeling of my brother, Poseidon's cool waves lapping at my toes… Even after all these countless and empty days, I can still remember what it had been like to be a part of something that didn't involve the dead.

But those days seemed to have vanished forever, without a trace.

Instead of choruses of music and laughter, I'm surrounded by the screams and pain of innocent civilians, all by my own hand as well. Instead of sunlight and green grass, the grey clouds seem to overcast my world with snow that falls like ash and trees as dead as the souls who live here. Not a single living creature would dare to step foot on this land if they didn't have a wish for death.

With just the slightest touch, the healthiest man in the world would fall six feet into the soil in no less than half a second. That is –unless- you are a God.

How does one live with the power of death?

Simple: You don't.

But that was all before I saw her…

Persephone: Daughter of Demeter and easily the most beautiful woman in all existence that the one and only Aphrodite could not even deny.

Just past the Lake of Souls and through the Forest of Despair lies the most enchanting place that could even make my dead heart patter like a helpless school-girl. Where an abundance of roses poke out of bushes while countless other colors of red, orange, blue and purple flowers leave blemishes in the emerald green grass that could easily tickle my shins as a gentle breeze caresses the blades giving it a mock visual of what I remember as tides rolling on to the shore. But the sight that had me falling to my knees in envy as this glass wall puts a border between me and this paradise is the woman I have fallen madly in love with.

The shinning auburn hair with accents of cream colored highlights were what I could only imagine what the sun would look like if it were to take possession of a human body as her skin constantly glowed with a light I had to shield with my eyes. Eyes as green as the roots she harvested and a smile that was permanently plastered on her face as she skips about, dancing and touching the ground only to be joined with a new flower in her palm. She was but her name: a Goddess. A crown of white and cream flowers haloed her head while multiple petals surrounded her very presence as she danced.

And as years have passed on, I escape from my duties to perch on this rock like the gargoyle I am, doing nothing but watching. Wondering if even death himself can have a chance at love. If this aching in the cavity of my chest is love or a symptom of some disease I have picked up from being down here for so long. Possibly a heart-attack like it was a few years back. But unlike that kind of brutal and excruciating pain, this was one that I welcomed. It was as if this ray of light was my second chance of a new life.

Every day, she has the same routine:

Runs out as soon as the dawn approaches. Spins about the field with different bags of seeds in her hand as they scatter about into the soil. Then she delicately sings a soft tune that melts my heart, bending over and softly caressing each seed until it blossoms into a stalk of corn, sunflowers, lilies, roses, apple trees, pomegranate trees and every which kind of fruit or flower one could dream of.

However, today was a rather different day. For she had strayed much farther from her usual path and skipped deeper and deeper into the field until she was all but face to face with me. Remaining the statue of a Dark Prince in full armor, I continued to stare longingly back at her. Her eyes didn't meet mine as they began to look past me into the darkness of a forest that she had never seen before.

She shivered for a moment and then smiled, tossing seeds through the glass wall that kept her away from me.

"Persephone!" a woman called, whom I had right to assume was the lovely Demeter, her mother.

"Coming mother!" her voice chimed, giving the forest one last look and blowing a kiss to the buds that had yet to bloom.

"Goodnight sweet darlings," she cooed as a mother would do so when tucking in their child. "Harvest well, for tomorrow is the last day of Summer."

"Goodnight, Princess," I whispered, placing my hand on the glass that was invisible to her eyes.

But, like the sun, she too must retreat back to her dwellings until the dawn called her back to the field where numerous plants fall at her retreat only to become like new again in the morrow. I myself have work to do back in the pits of Hell, but not before I can hear her sing her song one last time.

_Oh ways of love_

So tender and true

May the voices of angels

Sing loudly to you

Oh ways of love

I call upon nature

Your beauty be thy teacher

Never once deprive love

From an innocent creature

Oh ways of love

So tender and true

Let me be a healer

To those who have lost you

As the moon becomes dusk

And the sun becomes dawn

I know forever and always

My love will linger strong  


After watching her for so many years, I too have been able to sing along with her and alone in my ghastly castle of doomsday. But I can never touch her, for the dead cannot be with the living unless the living chose to remain on this side of the wall. Each day I see her, every time she dances and sings in her field, I vow to do whatever it takes to break this glass wall between us and claim her as my own. To make her my own personal sunshine in this eternal darkness.

So finally, one night while I had been awoken by a shrieking spirit, it dawned on me.

The buds. Last day of Summer!

She had stepped away from her path and planted life in to my deathly garden of weeping willows and naked trees. She has opened the wall!

It's only for one day, but in one day Olympus has no control over the wall because she has given me life to sustain! I have to mend those seeds as if my life depended on it.

Without further contemplation of the consequences I could face, I spring from my layer, run to the ironclad door and sprint out into the ice cold air –or what I would imagine a human being would consider ice-cold to be- forcing myself to push myself faster to make way to the seeds she had placed for me to tend to.

But it's all but pointless when the seeds had already jut out from the soil below where it was feeding on muck and mud while snow had encased the blossoms in such a way that it would look natural to any one stranger. A bed of Jasmine flowers, gently waving in the wind. Only I would know that this was all purely magic from the enchantress of copper and cream colored hair.

"Persephone," I breathed gently, kneeling down as I gently cupped one flower into my leather and steal bound hands, caressing its silk-like petals.

Suddenly, the flower began to wilt at the instant of my touch only to turn to ash in my hands as the gentle yet brutal winds scooped it out from my tips. I sighed as I watched each speck float away into the darkness.

"Excuse me?" a soft voice asked in the wind.

I quickly stood erect to face the girl I had been watching for all these years. Studying, observing and hopelessly admiring from afar. But here she stands before me, looking right into my ice cold blue eyes, confused and curiously awaiting for my response.

"Per- I mean," I stumbled, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb your garden. I just couldn't help but notice them…"

She still seemed confused about what I had said as she lightly tilted her head, observing me closely as strands of my long ash white hair would hug my face.

"You seem familiar…" she spoke softly.

I blinked again, worried she has truly seen past this wall I had believed was a one way.

"I know you, don't I?" she asked, taking a single step closer. I couldn't help but notice she was only a single toe away from the original line.

I smiled slightly, but not innocently. "You tell me."

She leaned forward, folding her arms over her chest, taking a closer look as her copper curls bounced off her shoulder slightly.

I gently offer my hand and continue to smile as I wait for her to cross over, where she will never be able to turn back. She will be mine forever… all one needs is for her to take one single step that will determine her fate.

"Come," I persuade her, "take a closer look. Perhaps you're seeing me for the first time, but I assure you… this is not the first I have seen you."

She gasped, taking a single step back, holding her heart with one hand. Eyes full of shock and fear at the possibility of this man before her being a stalker. Perhaps I was, but she doesn't know that.

"Who are you?" she asked, taking one last step back.

"Why don't you find out?" I smiled, this time releasing some of my natural demon as to absorb the warmth from this angel before me. "Take my hand, please?"

Persephone quietly contemplated on whether or not to take a chance to take the hand of a stranger or turn back and pretend that she never saw me and forever be banned from my existence. I silently begged it wasn't for the latter.

"What would these flowers be if they didn't have their mothers touch to keep them alive? You can't leave them here to die in this frigged storm, can you?" I asked, knowing this definitely had her thinking twice.

Bringing her hand up to her mouth, Persephone started to bite her nails debating which path to take.

Without taking my eyes off of her, I kneel back down to the bed of Jasmine scented flowers and scattered what little frozen ice was on their stems and petals.

"Careful!" she cried, stepping forward again, watching over them as a cautious mother would. This time, she was only a hair away from the line.

"I'm sorry," I apologized, hiding the single flower I had touched as it scattered into the wind. "But I just can't let these die of frost bite… it would be a sin to leave them unattended don't you think?"

Suddenly, a tear fell from her eye as she showed a face of frustration, fear and uncertainty.

"Persephone," I whispered, standing again. "Please, don't cry…"

She gasped. "How-?"

"You mustn't leave them here alone, Persephone," I interrupted her. "They need you."

But that wasn't true. I didn't care about the flowers. I didn't care that they would possibly die the second she runs away. All I cared about was her coming to this side of the wall so that she would see me as a man and not the devil that everyone has made me out to be. Even if that is who I am, I won't let her know it.

"Tell me who you are first," she demanded, holding her arms tight against her stomach of both being cold and from my discomfort.

I remained silent as I continued to watch her beautiful emerald green eyes challenge me.

"You know who I am, so it would only be fair that you introduce yourself."

I sighed then looked down at my outward hand that was still empty, letting it fall back to my side as it hid itself behind my black wolfs-fur cape.

"I am but a man who has fallen in love with you. All other names are pointless as they do not make me who I am but who man has made me. A fellow had once quoted 'a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.' I do not see a reason to worry about names."

She wasn't angry. She didn't even flinch when I had admitted my love for her. I had possibly assumed she must have heard it from countless strangers. But perhaps this stranger would have a chance in Hell compared to the others.

I gave a softer smile as I held my hand out higher with more confidence and gentleness. "Please, I ask you to take my hand and accompany me on this path."

Persephone gulped as she timidly let her hand reach out towards mine. Slowly, but surely she continued to grow closer to my hand until she finally removed it and turned away from me, letting out a small scream into her hands.

"Persephone?" I asked, confused and hurt. For once, the devil himself felt pain.

But she didn't answer as her shoulders began to shake and her hands didn't leave her face.

"Persephone, what's the matter?" I asked, taking a step closer.

She squeaked again in fear running to the nearest tree on her side of the wall that had been planted only hours ago. A pomegranate tree by the looks of the bulbous purple orbs hanging from its limbs.

"S-stay where you are!" she stuttered behind tears, not facing me.

I remained the typical statue I had played many times in this one spot, doing the exact same thing I was doing now: observing, longing and studying.

"What do you want with me Hades?" she asked, turning her eyes to me. Scorn and hatred swimming in her tears as anger and pain was plastered on her expression. A face I had deserved.

I swallowed nervously as I didn't move from my spot, but instead remained still.

"Answer me _Hades_!"

"Nothing more than the pleasure of your company. Honest."

"A promise from the devil," she scoffed, whipping her eyes heatedly.

"You did not know I was who I was until you pressed your hand through the glass. You didn't refuse me when I told you I had loved you… but because you know who I am, you reject me."

"As would any sane being, Hades!"

Letting my head drop for a moment, I couldn't help but see her understanding. I was death. No one ever willingly takes the hand of death.

"I understand… But had you not known," I continued as she refused to look me in the eyes ever again, "you would be on this side of the wall with me, would you not?"

"No!" she whimpered.

I smiled at her lack of confidence in her objection. "Are you certain, princess?"

"Yes!"

I chuckled slightly behind my gloved hand.

"Don't make jest of me, Hades!" she scolded as a fiery red rose spurted from out of a bush.

"I only jest in the simple fact that you do not reject me, but you reject my title."

"It's the same thing, Hades!"

I shook my head, smile still plastered on my pale white face. "No, dear Persephone. They are as similar as night and day. One is the man the other is the name. A man cannot be a name for a name is not a living breathing thing."

"But the man who owns the name owns the responsibility behind it, Hades!" she retorted.

I nodded slightly. "That is true, yes. But you as well have the name Persephone."

"Yes, and what does that mean to you?" she growled as more blood red roses poked out from the bushes behind her as the thorns continued to grow longer and sharper.

"She who destroys light, am I right?" I smiled slyly. "Does that mean that you are as dark as say… me?"

"I am nothing of the likes of you, Hades!"

I nodded. "And who's to say I am as evil as those who have spoken wicked tongue of my name? Have you ever wondered if possibly this life was not chosen but given because no one wanted this responsibility?"

"I-" she tried to respond. "Well you-!" again she couldn't finish it.

I smiled gently towards her as I finally took a deep breath and abandoned my world so I might be in hers. Calmly standing before her, I limit myself to only gazing at her sad and confused eyes.

Cringing, she turns her eyes, covering her face in fear and surrounding herself in the thorn infested rose bushes she had threatened me with before as a means of a self-defense mechanism.

I sighed, turning my eyes back to my leather boots. "My name is Hades, God of the Underworld and Prince of Darkness…"

She sniffled a little, whipping her eyes free of tears, but said nothing as I lift my eyes to her own and smile. "But who I am is only a lonely and wrongfully punished man who had no say in his fate and has fallen in love with the Goddess before me."

She didn't say anything as she turned away.

"I would understand if you did not trust me because of my forwardness and perhaps my confidence in my words spoken, but I wouldn't understand if you reject me for a name I did not choose and a title that was chosen by my brothers and your uncle."

"But you are the devil, Hades! Not a God of war or God of pain! You are the God of the _Underworld!_ You expect me to overlook that?"

I shrugged. "And you are the Goddess of Harvest. It's just a name, darling. Even though you have been given abilities to make your name part of who you are, it is only a name."

"It is not the same thing as just a name and you know it, Hades!"

"Is there a reason as to why the lady continues to say my name?" I smiled.

"It's to remind me of who I'm talking to!" she scorned.

"So you need reminding that you are talking to the God of the Underworld," I said brusquely as I smiled confidently, suddenly feeling her own wall of thorns fading before me. "Interesting…"

"No! It's not because-" she stopped, holding her temples.

_Clearly lying gave her headaches, I smiled to myself._

"Look, Hades-"

"There it is again."

"It's the last day of Summer and I have a lot of work to do before the Autumn work has to be done. Please, refrain from bothering me again!" she huffed, storming away from me.

"Sun down," I called out to her.

Stopping in her tracks, she turns on her heals and glares at me. "Excuse me?"

"You have until sun down before the wall closes up," I smiled softly. "Once the sun sets, so shall the wall reappear and you'll never have to see me again. But, because you won't see me does not mean that I won't stop seeing you."

"If it's so important to you that I cross this wall, then why didn't you just drag me to your world rather than let me choose?"

"Because, I may be the holder of death but I have no control over the living. Unless you are nothing but a wandering soul, I cannot take you. I am nothing but a man who is asking for your hand."

She scoffed and then turned on her heals, running away from me and towards the rising sun.

I sigh, leaning against the tall pomegranate tree, looking up and taking a piece of fruit from a low branch. Rolling around said fruit in my hand, I silently pull a blade out from behind my cloak and pierce the thick skin until the ruby red seeds began to bleed out of the center. Taking a single seed, I place it into my mouth and admire the sour yet sweet and tangy sacks of flavor before I leave it on the ground and walk back to my dark and lifeless side of the world, fruitlessly waiting.


	2. Chapter 2

Hours have passed and the sun continues to sink lower and lower before it will reach the western horizon. Anxiously waiting, I continue to watch Persephone as the light in her smile and the fluid bounce in her step seems to have vanished. Her harvesting rituals seem as if it is her first time encountering a newborn seed, as if she's never done this before. Countless times she even appeared to be distracted, as if something in the distance has caught her eye and she can't seem to bring herself back to earth. During one of these spells, she happened to cut her finger on a rose bush she had been tending to, something she has _never_ done before.

Persephone has always been very careful and even graceful with her work. As any artist does, she takes her time to make sure that it is simply perfection. She would harvest all day and not have a speck of soil on her or her light yet modest outfit. But today, her flawless rosy hued pink skin was turning into a scarred and bloody mess covered in dirt.

"Ah!" she cries out, holding her freshly cut hand and pulling it to her mouth almost as if she expected to suck out the pain.

"Persephone?" a beautiful blond woman called out as she came running to her daughter and kneeling beside her as she observed her new injuries. "Darling, what happened?"

"I-I don't know," she said, tears drawing down her cheeks. "The rose bushes must have caught me by surprise."

"Persephone…" Demeter cooed, petting her only daughter's hair gently and pulling her into her shoulder as she cried. "What's the matter, dear? I had been watching you for these few hours and I can't help but ponder what has you distracted?"

Eagerly awaiting her response, I lean in forward even though my distance is easily one-hundred yards away. Could I be the reason for her failure to bring the Fall harvests? I suddenly felt a pang of guilt.

Persephone just whimpered and hugged her mother around her waist.

"Honey, you can tell me if something is wrong," she pried.

"I've just been distracted by these dreams I've had…" she murmured so softly I could barely hear it. "Crops dying, animals scurrying for safety and the water to quench their and our thirst dried up."

Demeter just smiled and kissed the top of her beautiful daughter's caramel colored hair and hugged her tight.

"Darling? Have we ever been unsuccessful in our harvesting?"

"Well… no mother-"

"Then you have nothing to fret," she chimed, standing on her feet and holding her hands out to Persephone. "Come, child, we have work to be done."

She smiled, taking her mother's hands only to stand and embrace her mother once again. Demeter responds to her hug and smiles just as bright as her daughter.

"Let me see these scars."

"They'll be fine, mother, I promise."

"Nonsense," she smiled pulling away from her, bending down and collecting a few herbs and other colorful plants, crushing them up in her hands to create a salve. Finally, she pulls her daughters injured hands and arms with her cleanest hand and then begins to apply the ointment that was almost an obvious immediate remedy.

"There," she smiles, whipping off the excess crushed herbs. "Good as new."

And it was. It was almost as if she had never even touched a thorn in her life as her unblemished skin returned back to its original breath taking beauty.

Persephone smiles slightly, holding her arms as if they had still been in pain. "Thank you, mother. I'll continue on with our work, seeing as how the sun isn't too far from the horizon," she nodded her head towards the west.

"Ah, you're right," Demeter smiled. "We'll meet back at sundown for supper, alright?"

She nodded happily. "Alright, sundown."

Demeter nodded and then skipped back to her original engagements with the sunflowers that had been half bloomed and in desperate need of her attention. Like her daughter, she was an artist when it came to bringing life to a seed and mending those plants that had begun to wilt.

But Persephone didn't seem as if that was what she wanted to do. She eyed her field, worried expression with possible confusion until she just sat there, playing with a blade of grass between her fingers while a sudden gust of wind tousled her hair and wisp of clothing about. Playing with her powers, she let a seed fall from her tips creating a small hole for it to burrow in. Then she covered it up, placed her hand over it and let it grow.

Unlike the orchids and lilies and roses she was known for producing, this one was smaller, less extravagant but not any less beautiful as it wrapped around her ring finger like a vine. It was simple, but it had to be the most relatable flower to Persephone. A daisy.

Friendly, gentle and beautiful. Flowers that can always make you smile even in the darkest times.

She smiled down at the small flower that hugged her wedding ring finger, giggling at something that must have been an inside joke. The sound of her bubbling laughter suddenly made me smile wider as I continue to watch.

Finally she sighed, pulling her finger away from the daisy turning her eyes to the horizon as it was only less than three hours away from touching the surface.

"Damn you, Helios," she scorned the sun God, standing on her feet and hustling her way back to the forest of crops and trees, disappearing from my sight.

I let my head fall slightly as I turn my eyes to my heavily armed self that was beginning to reflect off the glass wall that was transforming before my very eyes. Then, bringing my attention to the Jasmine bed below me, I can't help but think how the separation would be permanent if the last brick were to be in place by sunset. She wouldn't dream of crossing this line if she didn't have to. All I have to hold on to is that she'll accidentally forget where the line was and cross it by mistake. But she wasn't foolish, she made that very clear this morning at sun rise. She knew who I was the second she put her hand through my world. She wouldn't be foolish to cross it again, not when she has paradise at her finger tips. But even fools like me can dream.

A part of me hopes that she will never cross. A part of me hopes that she will never have to endure the same pain and queasiness I feel everyday when a new soul finds its way to my Hell screaming like a banshee, uncertain if they are even dead. Even after all these eons, I cannot stomach the sound of a crying mother who has been called by sickness to leave her family behind. It is far worse than anything I have ever heard in all my existence.

If Persephone were to leave by Zeus' grace, would Demeter cry out just as the mothers I have seen had? Would she come for her like Orpheus had done for Eurydice? *See Artist Comments Below*

Something tells me I'm not too far off…

I sighed in frustration as I turned my back and continued to travel back to my original domain, hating myself for wishfully thinking this would be as simple as breathing. Little did I know it was about as simple as breathing with a thousand pound weight on my chest.

"Damn you, Zeus!" I hollered in the forest. "Damn you and this life you have given me! Damn you too Poseidon! If it weren't for-" I stopped short, slamming my fists into the hollow and sick looking elm tree just beside me. "I loathe you, brothers!"

There was only silence as a gentle breeze tossed my long ash white hair.

Fed up and tired, I hastily push myself away from the tree and continue on with my journey, ignoring the sunset that I assumed had already touched the horizon.

Finally arriving back to the solemn screams and ghastly cries from the spirits and undead alike, I pretend to not notice them as I hasten my way up the tall staircase to my dark scarlet and charcoal black chambers that seemed to mesh perfectly into this places' atmosphere like cogs in a clock: dark, dreary and lifeless.

Letting out a deep breath, I turn the handle and push open the heavy wooden and iron door as it welcomes me with a loud and ear splitting screech that I have all but become numb to. As I walk in, I pass the large king sized bed that was all but fitting for its name -that is if I had ever once felt like a king-, pull back the satin drapes and find just the same view I've grown accustom to: dirty snow, deathly sick looking trees and plants along with smog rolling over grey mountains in the far off distance.

Pulling open the glass and wooden balcony doors, I step out on to the stone paved veranda until I finally make it to the end of the walk and rest my arms on the railing.

I sigh letting the cold and frigged air take my cloud of breath away into the growing darkness, disappearing before my very eyes. The silent screams of Hell have all but drowned out from my ears as I continue to listen for anything beyond the glass wall. Waiting…

Though the sun is impossible to see from my side of the world, I knew that it only had an hour before it would be gone for the night, only to return for its duties at dawn. Every side of me prayed that Persephone would come to the wall. That she would pass through it like a gentle breeze scuttling in through the open window of a warm summers afternoon, find me and live forever as my Goddess of the Underworld. But the other part of me -the constant nagging in the back of my head- wished she would turn her back away from me and never return. Never have to live the life that I was damned with.

But why would a heartless man such as me even care if a woman would return this… this thing that mortals have called "love?" This sickening and pointless but oh-so-satisfying and addictive feeling of giving and returning each other's heart and soul. Why would the God of the Underworld even try to feel?

Suddenly there was a howl in the darkness that caused my entire body to stand alert and on guard. Searching around me for the genesis of the deafening cry, I am introduced to the thunderous yell of the canine beasts that surround and guard the premises of Hell.

Hell Hounds.

I gasped suddenly understanding what it was that had thrown them into a frenzy.

"Persephone!"

Throwing caution to the wind, I heave myself over the railing and hit the ground running behind them as I pull the sword from behind my back to my front, prepared for any danger that may come. Begging Hermes to give me the gift of swift feet, I dug my toes deeper and deeper into the snow and sleet, skidding over a river that had been frozen over countless times again and again only to topple over myself when a giant and mystic black wolf like creature shoves beside me, craving the blood that will lather his teeth in only a matter of minutes.

Quickly getting back to my feet I continue running after the pack, making my goal the leader of the pack: Judas. The third brother of Cerberus and Orthrus.

Hell Hounds are best described to humans as black and brown wolves on steroids with glowing and piercing red eyes, with strength and speed at a capacity that none could ever fathom. But, the idea of speed is pointless when they much more enjoy shadow travel, keeping them behind the shadows and ambush when the prey has taken fall to their trap. I have rid this world of life and shadows for the sake of them ever using this power against me. Even though I was the one who brought them to life, they will never cease to attempt to bring me my death. Tonight, I won't let something as pointless as my life be my distraction from trying to save Persephone's.

"Judas!" I called out, finally gaining speed. "STOP!"

"A soul has crossed the line of Hell!" he growls back, digging his paws deeper into the snow as he pushed himself farther. "As the Guardians of Hell, it is our duty to take care of it! It is _you_ who gave that law! _You_ Hades!"

"I am your master and you will obey my command! Stop and retreat!"

He barked and snarled his teeth as he pounced onto my chest, causing the sword in my hand to fly as he bit into my neck, drawing blood and a soundless cry from my throat.

"I will _not_ retreat!" he growled with disdain and blood, dripping from his frothy mouth. "You are _not_ my master and nor will you ever be! Stand down and let us do our job!"

"You- You stand…" I panted and coughed, holding my neck as it continued to pour crimson red. "…d-down!"

"Move out!" Judas called to the pack, ignoring my command as he and the rest of the Hell Hounds burst into a sprint towards the wall.

"Judas!" I weakly screamed standing and using a tree to support my weight. "D-damn it! Ju-das!"

Only the silence responded as the packs howls and running paws faded away into nothingness.

I winced, holding my throat attempting to speak, but nothing would come out but weak squeals and whimpers.

_Man's best friend_ I scoffed to myself. _If that is a best friend, I did myself well to keep away from others._

I hated that Judas at first glance of him. The second he was created, I knew he would be a problem for me. But I never put too much thought into how much or what kind of trouble, only that I knew it wouldn't be pleasant. But then again, what trouble is?

But I couldn't worry about that right now, I had to save Persephone. With the Hell Hounds gaining more and more time the longer I stood here, I finally pushed myself off the tree as a trail of scarlet and crimson droplets followed after me. Unfortunately, the pain in my neck and the piercing sting of the venom in Judas' fang made the ability to walk as impossible as trying to catch a shadow with your bare hands. I didn't let it slow me down though. I wouldn't let something as futile as pain get in my way!

With nothing to lose but the revived heart in my chest, I pound my feet against the cold forest floor and continue to run as fast as my lungs will let me. Luckily, Judas doesn't know about the shortcut I had made after countless times of losing myself in the Forest of Despair.

Cutting the time in half from Hell to the wall that was nearly complete, I suddenly halt at the face of not Persephone but her aunt…

"Hera," I growled, heaving blood and air just to speak the wretched name of my brother's wife.

"And who was it you were expecting to see, Hades?" she chimed and laughed mechanically. "Persephone, perhaps?"

"What have you don-!"

"Shh," she cooed, softly placing her hand over my mouth while her crimson red lips pulled up into a gentle smile. "We wouldn't want you to lose anymore blood than you already have."

"What… did you-!" I demanded before I was suddenly suffocated by the air I was breathing.

"Ooh," Hera marveled, holding an invisible orb of air in her hands, clenching her fingers tighter while my throat continued to close up the more she curled her fingers. "You're a lot feistier than I remember you to be. It's a shame that you couldn't have put that anger to a better use on Olympus. You could have been wining and dining with the finest of all Gods and Goddess…" she sighed as if she had actually felt remorse for me.

I silently spat to myself. I didn't want nor _need_ her pity, especially since this is the woman who had once said "I do" to the man I hate more than all man and Gods alike.

"You could have been with someone like me," she smiles, suggestively stepping closer to me trailing the hand that was over my mouth down to my still bleeding throat.

"G-get… o-ff!" I coughed, trying to breathe as best as I could behind her serpent like hands.

"Shh…" she coaxed, leaning in closer to my small and quick breaths, stopping just before her pearl white teeth could marry my own, prepared to suck out the soul that I had fought so long to keep hold on to. "Zeus and Persephone will nev-"

"GET OFF OF ME WOMAN!" I growled, trying to ignore the similarity to Judas' anger as I grabbed Hera's small and petite shoulders, shoving her away with as much strength I could muster. "What have you done to Persephone?!"

She just smiled and laughed.

"Tell me now!"

"Why I have done nothing to darling, Persephone. How could you accuse me of such a traitoro-?"

"Damn it Hera!" I scolded, holding out my sword to her neck. "What has thou done with my Persephone?!"

"So possessive," she giggled sweetly behind her hand, holding the hem of her long flowing white dress to reveal the beautiful caramel haired goddess I had been watching for all these eons, pale and lifeless as she rests on the bed of Jasmine that she had brought to life only twenty four hours ago. "I don't remember you being this passionate about anything since Zeus won father's crown."

Ignoring the golden haired Goddess of marriage, I seize myself to Persephone's side, examining her expressionless face. All blush and color ridden from her.

"What did you do?!" I demanded, softly laying my beloved to rest, standing to be eye to eye with the woman in question.

"Noth-"

Growing tired of this hideous woman's lies, I slam her back into the tree as a thunderous crack echoed in to our ears. "WHAT DID YOU DO, HERA?!"

"Hades…" she started, giggling. "Asking how a woman died? The irony is delicious," she smiled, licking her lips seductively.

"ANSWER ME!"

Hera only laughed. "You're not the only one with connections to the dead you know, dear sweet Hades," she smiled, tracking a single finger past my lip and down my silver breast plate.

_Her seduction is almost as taunting as licking an angry hornet's nest,_ I scoffed to myself, releasing any and all grip I had on her. "I'm the God of Death and the Underworld. You cannot have a connection I do not know about!"

"Obviously I can," she giggled playfully. "Seeing as how Death himself cannot figure out something as simple as reason of death, I believe I can _and_ do."

I scoffed, turning away from Hera, fed up and tired from the loss of blood. Of course, it could never kill me, only make me weak.

"Wh-where are you going?" she asked sheepishly.

Turning into the man I had been dubbed long, long ago, I let my irises burn a fiery red into the empty skulled woman before me, wishing now more than ever I had the ability to kill a God. I didn't let a single ounce of irritation go unnoticed as I gave a grim and unsatisfied expression.

"I have not the time or the patience to deal with you or your failure to keep my brother satisfied! If this predicament and stage play is all for the eyes of Zeus, then leave. If you wish to fulfill a wrath fit for my brother's unfaithfulness to you, not that it takes Pandora's curiosity to understand why," I added brusquely, "then banish yourself from my land and never, _ever_ let me catch you or _anyone_ from Olympus on my land ever again! I will not be part of your childish entertainment to mold my brother into jealousy after he has already forgotten every memory of you by now while he continues courting a lowlife human girl who would still be prize material over you."

Her words were washed clean from her wide open mouth. I silently debated whether Medusa had suddenly arrived and frozen her solid before me… that is until the wench grew enough stability to walk across the open space between us and smack her hand against my cheek. I found it ironic that I obtained more enjoyment in her anger than I did her seduction. But it just made everything better when she had spat in my face and disappeared without another word… for what word could she use when the truth had all but returned that slap on to her own cheek? I smiled as I wiped the saliva from my face.

It has been no secret that my brother enjoys the company of different woman on different nights. Why, if he didn't, we wouldn't have the many Gods and Goddess we have now.

_Pity_ I think to myself.

Suddenly remembering why I was here, I turn my attention back to the beauty that I presume has turned to my side, but not of her own free will… and _not_ in the way I wanted.

"Persephone," I whispered, kneeling before her, hesitantly reaching my hand towards her delicate and pale face. "Persephone… can you hear me?"

The maiden remained silent in her response… not even a breath.

"Persephone," I begged, leaning closer as the snow around us began to fall in light whispers. "Please, I can't bear to live knowing that I have lost everything good in this world because of a mad woman."

_HOOOOWWLLLLL!_

I gasped at the piercing voice of Judas' pack only a few miles away that would promise their arrival in only a matter of seconds. Seizing the lifeless woman before me, I pull her into my chest and allow myself to fade away into a nearby shadow I had only momentarily given permission for. Just enough time to let the Hell Hounds pass without second thought…

Worried that I had startled the poor maiden, I hold her closer to my breath plate.

But she didn't even twitch a finger. Nothing was getting through to her and I had been suddenly afraid of the worst. She was gone and she was never coming back.

Death isn't merciful in the slightest. It will not change the fates of time and it will never return a lost soul to its empty shell of a body… not even if death commanded it to.

"Per-Persephone?" my voice cracked. "Persephone, please… please wake up."

Still… nothing.

Finally taking a chance, I rip the leather glove away from my hand with my teeth and compare my translucent white skin to her deathly pale, and -for the first time in both our existences- our skin had made contact with a jolt that shot me a good few feet away from her corpse like body.

_She is still with us,_ I blissfully thought to myself, remembering warmth spread throughout my entire body as my icicle-like fingers gently caressed the side of her face. Only a living and breathing spirit could ever cause my body to shove back at my death forsaken soul.

"Persephone!" I begged, softly shaking her shoulder. "Persephone, you must open those emerald green eyes and look into mine! Please! Darling, come away from the darkness and follow my voice!"

A soft moan left the hollow of her throat as she tossed from one side to the other.

If I didn't have a heart before, it definitely came to life only to stop again when a small hue of pink colored her flushed cheeks while she smiled gently, curling up into a warm ball as a flower poked out of the icy ground and wrapped around her wedding band finger just as it had earlier.

"Princess?" I whispered, caressing her cold and wet cheek from the snow, banishing anything with my thumb that wasn't her own skin. "Can you hear me?"

"Mm…" she hummed, still smiling as she released one hand from her grasp, raising it to her face as to wrap her fingers around my bare one that didn't leave her intoxicating warmth.

I smiled in return as my hand mechanically grabbed hers back, rubbing small circles into the back of her hand.

"Are you certain you are in the right place my dear?" I asked hesitantly, but still keeping it light and playful.

"Mm…" she replied again, gripping my hand a little tighter.

"Then tell me… where has the lady fallen?"

"Down, down, down the rabbit hole," she laughed, weakly. "Never to see the light of day again."

I sighed in half relief. "Then tell me… who am I?"

Softly, the lids that hid away the gem like eyes from the world, opened into slits as she turned them to my ice cold blue worried ones and smiled, letting go of my hand only to raise it up to my face, smiling all the while.

I couldn't ignore the petal-like softness in her touch or even the warmth that was as exhilarating as the sun Helios had placed in the center of the sky, closing my eyes and turning my face into her palm as I held it close to me. I suddenly realized why I had wanted to remember what it had felt like to actually feel again… to live once more even in the darkness of Hell.

"You are nothing more than a man… a man who has wanted nothing more than to live a normal life, even if that means occupying ones time into spying on a lonely girl who has wished on countless stars for a prince to sweep her off her feet."

I smile lightly, holding on to Persephone's hand with my own before letting it go only to scoop my arms underneath her small torso, holding her as close to my heart as I could manage.

"Well then, my lady," I smiled, resting her head onto the crevice between my shoulder and my finally beating jugular vein, "you may call me your knight in shining armor."

She just giggled, shaking her head. "Mm-mm," she disagreed.

Confusion thick in my expression, I turn to her silently asking what she meant.

"Who would want a knight when she can have a Lord, a King _and_ a Prince all in one?" she joked, silently tapping my iron and sapphire made crown that sat just above my hair and forehead line.

I laughed genuinely, resting my forehead against hers, taking in the scent of jasmine and cherry blossoms and another scent that I couldn't quite pin point… Pomegranate, maybe?

Persephone just smiled back at me, wrapping her arms around my neck and curling up closer to my chest, but not before I could grab her chin and gently place her feet on the tops of my leather boots, keeping her as warm as possible. Slithering one arm around the small of her back, I pull her in and lean down slightly as I had a few inches over her. Finally –after many sleepless nights, day dreaming- I hesitantly let my lips meet hers only to be overwhelmed at the sweet and innocent taste that lingered in her kiss to pull her in tighter only to deepen the affection I had been desperately wishing to give for a long, long time.

Pulling away slightly, Persephone giggled and rested her forehead against my breast plate, wrapping her arms around me in an inescapable embrace that I could never dare break. All fear and anger she once had, vanished at just the simplest touch. I didn't hesitate to return the affection as I held her close and vowed then and there to never let another demonic soul touch her… that is, unless it was my own. I relished at the thought.

But she gasped, worried. "Hades!"

Blinking in fear, I turn my eyes to her, afraid our moment was over just as quickly as it had started.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

She stretched one hand underneath my jaw line only to pull it back towards my face where a puddle of crimson had drenched her dainty digits. "You're bleeding!"

I sighed in relief. "It's nothing to worry about, I promise you."

"Lie down," she demanded, pulling herself away from me.

"Perseph-"

"Do as I say," she turned to me, glaring. "Lie down."

I smiled and said nothing more as I set myself on the icy ground.

Only a few heartbeats later did she return with gathered herbs in her small hands, crushed and moist from the snow, recreating the salve her mother made for her only a few hours ago. Gently setting herself down beside me, she places both hands with nature's ointment onto either side of my neck, rubbing it in soothingly and lovingly.

"There," she smiled, pushing away the remaining herbs after time had cured me, "good as new."

I release a small laugh as I let my hand caress the pink hue just under her gem-like eyes as she smiled. Soft and gently, I cup the back of her fragile neck and slowly pull her down to me, pressing my lips to hers while my arms snaked around her back, molding her body to my own as we remained hidden in the shadows, evicted from the world and not caring a single moment.

Pulling away slightly, she hovers just over me and smiles. "Who knew the kiss of death was truly heaven in disguise?" she giggled, encircling my neck in her arms as she rested her forehead against my own.

I sighed in complete euphoria, relieved that for once something beautiful I touched didn't turn into ash, but rather remained the beautiful flower it had always been since the day it bloomed onto my side of the glass wall.

* * *

_****NOTES****_

Story of Orpheus and Eurydice:  
Orpheus went to Hell to save his wife Eurydice. In the end, Hades agreed that he would let his wife go _unless_ he looked back to make sure she was still there. Just as they are about to leave Hell, Orpheus accidentally looks back and never sees his wife again.

Persephone:  
Goddess of the Underworld  
Daughter of Demeter and Zeus

Hades:  
God of the Underworld and death  
Brother to Hera, Zeus and Poseidon

Demeter:  
Mother of Persephone.  
Goddess of Harvest.

Helios:  
Sun God and God of the Sun.

Zeus:  
God of the Sky  
King of the Gods  
Father of Persephone (Soap opera much?)

Hera:  
Goddess of Marriage  
Queen of the Gods  
Sister to Hades, Poseidon and Zeus (Can someone say incest?)

Pandora:  
First human woman. (Kind of like our Eve) Her husband had told her NOT to open a box no matter what. Curious as she was, she opened the box then became known as the reason for the pain and sin the world.

Hermes:  
Olympian god of herds, travel, trade, language, heraldry, athletics and thievery. Known famously for his winged shoes.

Hell Hounds:  
Creation of the devil/Hades.  
Guardians of the Underworld and founder of lost and abandon souls.  
Generaly known for their huge stature and glowing red eyes. Also know for talking. (I did not add that part, it's true.)  
There is also no Hell Hound named Judas who is a third brother to Ceberus. He was fan made.


End file.
